We’re having an election??

So as we all know the next presidential election is a mere year away which means that campaigning is in full swing (huzzah!). Now while this blog is dedicated to teens, I think it still pays to have a keen awareness of what’s going on politically so that you know where you stand when you can vote, and so that you can speak your opinion when asked (or not). You all can also volunteer for campaigns and work to make sure that this country goes the way you want it to. And I’m sure some of you will be voting for the first time next year (a highly exciting feeling I must say. The first time I voted, I stuck the little “I voted” sticker on my face and left it there so long that it pulled off skin when I finally took it off).

And so on that note, this post is the beginning of a series that will include short overview sof the presidential candidates along with a summary of their positions and links to places where you can find more information on them. If you want to keep up on the campaigns, check out this website.

So for this first post, we’re gonna make things easy with someone we all know:

Our dear pres is running for reelection. I give you…BARACK OBAMA!

Reviews of Obama’s performance to this point have been mixed. But let’s just start with where he stands on the issues:

Pro-life, but supportive of Roe v Wade. Emphasizes adoption and other methods of reducing unplanned pregnancies.

Obama does recognize the dangers of global warming and has said that he is committed to lowering our carbon emissions: he favors a market cap.

A strong supporter of gay rights, repealed DADT and has followed through on many of his campaign promises to fight for the gay community.

Obama has also done a great deal in terms of our wars: he began to bring our troops home from Afghanistan and is less committed to starting more wars and “winning” than he is to looking out for the good of the country and allowing other countries to take control of their own affairs.

Obama has proposed a slightly more socialized form of health care that provides health care for every American. More conservative critics suggest that this would simply be rich Americans paying for the less fortunate and that it would lead to too much bureaucracy and government control of health care.

While the economy has not improved significantly during Obama’s term, he has created a number of initiatives (the bank bailout) to try and create jobs and improve our country’s outlook. There is still a great deal of debate over how well any of this has worked.

Overall, Obama has been a relatively solid president. While he is probably the furthest left of the candidates, he is still relatively moderate in most of his views. For a feminist and a skeptic…he’s a decent bet.

Olivia

Olivia is a giant pile of nerd who tends to freak out about linguistic prescriptivism, gender roles, and discrimination against the mentally ill. By day she writes things for the Autism Society of Minnesota, and by night she writes things everywhere else. Check out her ongoing screeds against jerkbrains at www.taikonenfea.wordpress.com

2 Comments

Couple of things on Obama… First I would not categorize him as a strong supporter of gay rights. He is still publicly against gay marriage, which makes him less supportive than the majority of people in this country.

Second, while he’s certainly not Bush-level in his conducting of wars, he has during his administration sent more troops to Afghanistan and started an extra minor war with Libya. Not that those are necessarily bad things, but they factor into his overall record.

Lastly, the most glaring omission on the drawbacks to Obama is his record on civil liberties. He went back on his promise to close Gitmo, has expanded the Bush era practice of detaining people (including Americans) indefinitely without trial, and has continued to allow the torture of these detainees. All in all a fairly terrible record on that issue.

Obama is what he is, a fairly average President when stacked up against other modern contenders. Unfortunately he still may end up being the best possible choice, but it’s good to have a fuller view of some of his failings before deciding to vote for him.

Recent Comments

timmyson Check out <a href=https://letsencrypt.org>Let's Encrypt</a>. It's signing certificates have been accepted into Java since some recent-ish version of Java 8, and are becoming more widely... – May 14, 10:25 PM

floatingmanatee Rich people are so weird, why the hell would you put a jade egg in your vagina??? – Jan 23, 2:07 PM

SEVA Skeptics Regarding point 1: Your vote does count. But if you feel it doesn't, don't rely on others to work to make that change for you,... – Jul 26, 1:18 PM

Elizabeth By instead of I mean I live in Georgia. It may stop being a staunchly red state in my lifetime, but I'm not holding my... – Jul 25, 12:50 PM

Buzz Parsec Item 2 - volunteer for a campaign or candidate that you support. You will help enormously with getting that candidate or issue to have traction... – Jul 25, 12:34 PM

Elizabeth Lund Absolutely. And some liberal Christian churches are already doing this well. The Sudbury school I work with rents space in a Methodist church. Our school... – Jun 20, 11:02 AM